Pollinators: Let's Learn More

Pollinating insects have been the talk of the gardening town lately. All sorts of statistics are available to support the statement that about a third of what we find on our plates is there with the help of pollinators like bees, butterflies, and other animals.

Swallowtail butterflies love the clethra in my backyard

 Magazines, the web, newspapers and the media are worried about keeping pollinators happy and healthy. And, we, the gardening community, can do so much to encourage pollinators by what we plant and how we garden.

Maybe you've read the book by Doug Tallamy, Bringing Nature Home. In it Mr. Tallamy describes the importance of creating habitat for wildlife, including pollinators, at the edges of our own yards, in municipal parks, around farmland and other ecosystems.



A great read for information on gardening for wildlife

 Others, including those in government, have recognized this need and encouraged additional studies and created task forces to implement pollinator friendly practices to get our bees, butterflies, birds, even bats, back up to the numbers needed to provide food to keep our planet healthy. President Obama has even issued a memorandum directing more native plantings around federal buildings and campuses.

We have had the pleasure of getting to know bee expert and entomologist Dr. Jody Johnson, who has helped us understand bees a little better. She will be giving a talk here at Valley View Farms on Saturday, March 28th at 9:00. Following her talk, at 11, Claire Jones, an award-winning landscaper, garden blogger and beekeeper will be here to talk about her experiences with creating habitat for pollinators right here in the Baltimore area. Both women are very knowledgeable and engaging and have an obvious love and fascination for the natural world.

Dr. Johnson's studies took her to the almond groves of California for a huge pollinator event.


NPR and other media are covering the California almond pollinator story

We're curious to catch up with her to see how well the honey bee population performed during what is the largest bee gathering of its kind in the United States and to learn more about how bees socialize and do their work in our gardens. She is also working with a public utility company to implement plantings of large swaths of bee and butterfly friendly plants in rights-of-way in our region.

Claire will share her insights in a talk titled Sex in the Garden-Planting for Bees. I've gotten a sneak preview of her presentation and promise that attendees will walk away with a plan on how to create a beautiful and functional backyard habitat for pollinators.

Claire Jones is at home in her own garden

All of us at Valley View Farms see gardening as a way to make beauty and nature a part of our lives. We are committed to continuing our own education on how pollinators interact with plants and on maintaining a healthy environment for them, and for us.
 Children can get involved too! In fact, this year, we will be giving away 4,000 seed packets to kids featuring Lemon Queen Sunflowers as part of The Great Sunflower Project.

We are glad to share whatever resources we can, including the seminars, handouts and our signs, to aid in providing habitat for our wildlife friends.

Bee a pollinator-friendly gardener

Winter Flowering Houseplants

I admit to having the blahs in the wintertime. Shorter days, the passing of the holidays, slower times at work and the dull colors of my outdoor garden all contribute to my mood. But, I've learned one sure way to cope. Each morning, I stroll through the greenhouse and take in the sights, scents and beauty of houseplants. It's my own tropical paradise. Plant parenthood beckons as I choose a few flowering favorites to brighten up the house. Take a look.

African Violet

African violets may be "grandma" plants, but they are becoming popular to indoor gardeners who need a sure thing. Violets like bright light, 70 degree temperature, and do well if watered when their soil surface becomes dry. Keep them fresh by plucking old flowers off as they fade. Violets are inexpensive and available year round.

Anthurium

Anthuriums are underutilized. They flower in moderate light most of the year. Flowers range from bright white to dark red. Anthuriums are workhorses when it comes to removing toxins from indoor air; they are considered one of the best clean air machines. Bright, heart-shaped leaves and flowers make them a natural for Valentines Day.

Rex Begonias

Begonias come in all sorts of forms and color. Rex begonias are noteworthy not so much for their diminutive blooms, but for their gorgeous patterned leaves. Growers have rediscovered this plant and made it available for indoor gardeners everywhere.

Bromeliad



Guzmania flower

Bromeliads are an incredibly diverse family of plants. We love the Guzmania varieties this time of year, for their long strap leaves and brightly colored bracts. The color lasts a long time, and as the bract/flower fades, new little plant pups form at the base of the plant. Remove them and replant for beautiful color next year.

Gardenia bloom

Gardenias often flower in the winter. And, while the flower is beautiful, it is the flower's fragrance that sets this plant above the rest. Gardenias love high humidity, a day/night temperature difference of 10 degrees and consistent bright light. Not the easiest plant to grow, gardenias more than make up for gardener's efforts by their flowers' beauty and aroma.

Kalanchoe

Kalanchoes are another diverse family of plants. You'll find various succulents in our cacti and succulent area year round, but the flowering beauties are usually available in the winter. Blooming red, pink, yellow and white, the flowers have an almost neon appearance. I would call kalanchoes a temporary houseplant. Don't feel bad if you compost it at the end of its long blooming cycle. Its OK to let go.

Primrose

Primroses are available in many greenhouses this time of year. They are perennial plants that are forced for earlier season color. Once they have finished blooming and temperatures outside have warmed, plant primroses in a semi-shaded area where they will often come back year after year in the garden. Primroses bloom in pink, red, yellow, white and purple. They are perfect to lift our collective gardening spirits in the winter.

Streptocarpus

Streptocarpus may sound like a disease, but are, in fact, another delightful winter bloomer. Like African Violets, they thrive with bright light in average room temperature homes. There are many colors of blooms available in our greenhouse this time of year

If you need a lift, I promise, plants are just the thing. Stop in and see us. For more information on houseplants, stop in our store and see our plant display that includes some wonderful signage.
 Here is a great article on some of the best houseplants to grow for clean air. Enjoy!

The Little Boy with the Balloons

We were at the front of the store the other day, working to get customers checked out. A woman was pushing one of our larger shopping carts with a little boy sitting with his big Spider Man balloon and another with the image of a smiley face. The boy wasn't as excited as many of the kids when they enter and exit the Christmas Shop. Most young children are staring at the lights, the revolving trees and reacting to the overload of color and decorations. This little boy just seemed content to be. For some reason, his face stayed in my mind.

So, it was pretty neat to hear Scott's story the next day at the managers' meeting. He initially talked about a customer that was crying about a broken branch of a tree. Nothing that Scott tried to do could make the customer happy. The entire interaction was frustrating! It was nice that minutes later, he engaged the mom of the little boy with the balloons pushing the big shopping cart. She seemed old enough to be the boy's grandmother; turned out she was his mom. The 5 year old had had a tough start to his young life, being abused by the people that were supposed to love and protect him. But, the woman said that she had just been able to adopt the child. The boy didn't talk yet; he was still getting used to all that was new in his life. While helping the two to their car, Mark, a coworker, lifted the little guy from the cart and was rewarded with a huge grin. Now everyone was smiling! As Scott told the story, I felt tears coming to my eyes. Love, family, friends; that's what's important. It was a good reminder to not sweat the small stuff and to be grateful for what is right in front of us.

I have no photos to share. The mother and child's image won't leave my mind, surely not as I go on celebrating my own family and friends this season. May you find peace and love this holiday season. I was lucky to get a glimpse just the other day.

Merry Christmas.

Thankful

Many posts on facebook and other social media sites have talked about gratitude. In keeping with the Thanksgiving season, here are some things that we appreciate about our workplace. Excuse me if it sounds like we have a bit of a bias towards our place.

Aerial view of our store in Cockeysville/Hunt Valley

Our Cockeysville location has been home for over 52 years. And what a great location it is! We've grown with the neighborhood to a fun-filled holiday destination and the place to procure gardening plants and supplies.

Valley View Farms 1st opened on Friday, April 13th, 1962

Our original owners, brothers Bill and Punkey Foard, were daily fixtures at the store. We are indebted to their vision of  a successful business. Today, Billy and son Andy keep that vision alive.

Billy and Andy Foard during our annual WBAL broadcast. 

We're lucky to have managers who have grown up with the business. Most started while still in high school and have been here for close to 40 years.

Our coworkers bring great attitudes and passion for the jobs they perform day-to-day. Our work- family keeps our jobs fun.

Here are a few of our co-workers

The Foard family once grew corn, tomatoes and other crops at their farm. Today, the farm has 12 greenhouses and a large mum field. We're grateful to be able to grow our spring flowers, vegetable plants, mums and poinsettias on the property. We are then able to ship plants to the store every day when needed.

Poinsettias ship from our own greenhouses

Our talented and creative team of designers and decorators display merchandise beautifully, giving our customers inspiration.and wonderful ideas.

Thanks to our suppliers, we are able to provide good quality merchandise during all seasons. In addition to our own grower, our region has true plant professionals that ship plants to our store weekly or more often if needed. Many have become good friends as well as business associates.

Hillcrest Nursery has grown our herbs and many other plants for many years

Our customers are the BEST in the world. We thank YOU most of all for your years of patronage.

 Happy Thanksgiving!

Why are Our Plants So Healthy?

John Miller has been our grower at our growing range in Hydes, Maryland since 1991.

Early spring 

 Each year, John orders plants and seeds to be started at our farm greenhouses, grows them on in one of 12 greenhouses (and one huge mum field), and sometimes even delivers the plants to the store. He has help from Vernon, Barb and several seasonal members of our team in Hydes.

John and his right-hand man,Vernon, grow poinsettias.

 I'm a tad biased, but it is my opinion that our vegetable plants, flowering hanging baskets, flowering annuals, pansies, mums and poinsettias are the healthiest, best-looking plants available to area gardeners. How does he do it?

John works seven days a week for a good portion of the calendar year. He is married to Tracy and has two beautiful girls, Madelyn and Meredith.

Miller family vacation 2014

 Both daughters have an incredible knowledge of plants. Guess where John went to college?

I'm betting his life keeps him pretty busy. So, what does he do to relax? He runs! Not a little bit, either. He is currently training to run in the Baltimore Marathon slated for Saturday, October 18. At a bit over 40 years old, he appears to be very healthy and happy. I guess that's part of the reason that the plants he grows thrive as well.

On the NCR Trail

John, all of us at Valley View Farms are pulling for you to have a great run on Saturday. We're proud of you and the plants that you provide to our garden center. I'll try not to call a plant order in until later Sunday morning.

Aloha From Scott and Amy's Garden

Many years ago, Dr. Scott Hubert stopped in Valley View Farms to ask us to order some pineapple plants. 

The pineapple in the lower corner is almost ripe!

After growing the plants on for a summer, Scott brought in a photo of his family celebrating the harvesting of the pineapple in a special ceremony. Little did I know how passionate  Scott and his wife Amy are about their garden. A few weeks ago I asked the Hubert's if I could use their garden as a setting for a segment John Collins and I do on WBAL TV every Sunday. Here is that episode of the  Sunday Gardener. 

The Hubert family enjoy their tropical vacations, so it isn't surprising that they wanted to bring back a bit of the islands with them.

An island resort garden? Nope; curbside at the Hubert's Baltimore County home

 Some folks might settle for a bottle of rum; not Scott. He saw beautiful palm trees in a nursery in Homestead, Florida and managed to have them shipped close to his home in Baltimore County. Scott added other tropical plants to his gardens until he achieved a feel for the islands

Beautiful date palms, sago palm, croton, and a pineapple surround a working volcanic waterfall.

Hibiscus, mandevilla, philodendron, pygmy date palms, Chinese fan palms, birds of paradise, bouganvillea and many tropical plants love our hot, humid summers. But that can be an issue in the winter time. The Hubert family can use help in the fall when its time to move all of the plants inside. There is an older greenhouse in the backyard that serves as a winter home for the hobby plants. Some of the trees have gotten tall enough that they actual have to be dug into the ground inside their winter home.

A sign posts actual mileage to the Hubert's favorite island destinations

Big trees mean big root systems

The garden is not without challenges. Larger palms have to be fastened down to avoid being blown over by the wind, or "borrowed" by curious passers by. A large steel cable makes sure that doesn't happen. And, guess what? Deer like a lot of tropicals mixed into their diet plan, so deer repellents may be applied during times when Scott is not on duty in the garden. 

Scott and Amy's zest for life and fascination with plants has connected them to so many people, including me, who find their passion for their gardens inspiring. Thank you for making our part of the world a more beautiful place.

Beautiful Gardens... Destination Pittsburgh

Thanks to Valley View Farms' owners Andy and Bill Foard, I was able to attend the national Garden Writers Association symposium, held this year in Pittsburgh. I have been in, out and around that city many times in my life, but this was my first chance to stay for 5 interesting, busy, fun-filled, days.

Rooftop garden at Phipps Conservatory Center of Sustainable Landscapes

 A typical day started with a breakfast meeting, followed by several information gathering seminars, lunch on a bus en route to beautiful gardens, an afternoon of touring and then dinner at a garden venue with 400 garden writers/bloggers, TV and radio garden show hosts, public garden administrators, book authors, photographers, and other garden communicators. The bus ride offered a chance to get to know writers from all over the US and Canada. This year, we were treated to tours of beautiful gardens in the Sewickley Valley, Phipps Conservatory, Schenely Garden Plaza, the East End and other areas in and around the Pittsburgh.
Here are some photos of some of the gardens. The plants, flowers, and venues were incredible. I fell in love with the Phipps Conservatory. The outdoor gardens were spectacular!

Perennial gardens outside the Conservatory

Great garden performers 

Two formal water gardens could be seen from inside; I had to check them out!

 The indoor conservatory was just plain fun, with trains, dinosaurs and displays of Chihuly glass in unexpected places.

Trains were featured in several of the indoor rooms

Chihuly glass

Symmetry

Annual and tropical plants with the choo-choo train

Interesting desert room reminded be of Baltimore's conservatory

The private gardens were over the top. Beautiful tree hedges, mulched "lawns", old garden gates and, again, dinosaurs provided whimsy and unexpected storytelling in many gardens. The hosts opened up their grounds to hundreds of us.

Texture and color; flowers are secondary

Too much sun? This garden seat offers comfortable shade.

Peek through the garden wall for a look at the pool

This extensive pruned tree hedge bordered the upper lawn beautifully

Layers of shrubs on an emerald lawn-Wow!

Ivy covered walls

Dinosaurs need strong legs to cover the many hills in and around Pittsburgh

All of our  garden hosts were super friendly and knowledgeable 

Footbridge across Fern Gully

Lions were a common sight at many of the entrances 

 One of the gentlemen even started up his 1957 tractor, connected it to a cart and picked up some of the more physically challenged of our group, so that they didn't have to make the long trek up his driveway.

Our host talks to plants-man LLoyd Traven about his garden

Bit out of my price range, but beautiful just the same

Even the parking area gets the garden treatment

The planning committee did an extraordinary job. The garden tours made me wonder about the hidden gardens in our own community here in Baltimore.

One day, I played hooky with 3 other garden writers- Susan Reimer, from our own Baltimore Sun, Ginny Smith, from the Philadelphia Inquirer and Susan Harris, a garden writer, blogger and green activist here in Maryland. We struck out on our own and found Randyland.

Randy Gilson  of Randyland

Quirky garden! That's an understatement!

Randy re-purposes junk and creates jaw-dropping gardens

Look up, down and all around; you don't want to miss anything

Buy lunch down the street and bring it back to enjoy in Randyland

This Pittsburgh neighborhood is forever changed

Container gardens bring flowers to the street front

 Susan Harris wrote about this unique garden in her blog, Garden Rant. Talk about passion! Randy's view of the world and the joy and enthusiasm he brings to it is extraordinary. The four of us wandered in amazement while listening to Randy talking about the "junk", (his term, not mine) and plants in his garden. He is a waiter in downtown Pittsburgh and used his tip money and donations to create a one-of-a-kind city-scape.  While we were there, people stopped to say hi and donate to Randy's mission. He has gardens all over the city, but this is the one he calls home. For more photos, google Randyland.

Thank you to all of the people connected with GWA. Pittsburgh has become a new place to travel to and spend time in after my attendance to the 2014 symposium.

Pittsburgh was a wonderful host town

 Next year, Baltimore plays host to another horticultural group, the Perennial Plant Association. What a great chance to show off our city and the gardens in our area. Grow, Baltimore!